ms. klobuchar: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: madam president, i come to the floor today because there are three extremely talented, well-qualified women nominees who are ready to get to work on the united states court of appeals for the d.c. circuit. it's time they are confirmed. i'll be joined this afternoon by several of our colleagues, senators hirono, cantwell, kaine, and blumenthal, because we all know that it's time for the senate to stop the needless blocking of these women. enough is enough. and i want to thank chairman leahy for his persistence and the fact that we are not giving up on these three qualified women for the bench. our courts need judges in order for the third branch of our government to function. the senate should not be shutting down another branch of government. some of my colleagues in the senate won't even allow an up-or-down vote on these nominees. i don't know if they've even met these nominees, but if they met these nominees, i don't know how they could come to this floor and not allow an